BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Ateneo Men’s Football Team needed
a win after an unlikely scoreless draw with UST. Facing them were the UE Red
Warriors who they drew with t start Season 75.

Following La Salle’s huge 2-1 in over
FEU a week earlier, and a pair of 1-0 wins by UP over UST and FEU over NU
during Sunday’s matches, Ateneo needed the three full points to stay atop of
the rankings.

And they responded with their second
multi-goal game in three matches, a 2-0 win over UE that was both convincing
and at once a little disappointing. From kickoff they were clearly the much
better side. UE never had a shot at the goal as Ateneo’s defense stopped them
cold. On offense, they threatened on so many occasions including one where all
Val Calvo needed to do was slot it home as the keeper was clearly beaten. But
instead, he volleyed wide.

However in the space of a couple of
minutes, Ateneo got its goals, first from a shot from Philip Gozali from
outside the box that dipped under a diving UE keeper Lendon Clores in the 43rd
minute. Barely a minute later, midfielder Mikko Mabanag latched onto a forward
ball and dribbled past one defender before sending Clores the wrong way for a
2-0 lead.

There were more opportunities in the
second half but the poor finishing kept the tally at the same count.

Ateneo has stayed on top of the
standings since the second match of the season – an incredible turn around from
their second to the last place finish last season (3-0-7). Even that finish
didn’t tell exactly what how they fared. They were tough to beat and when they
did lose it was in the final 10 minutes of play.

So how did this turnaround happen?

Here it is in my opinion having
watched them closely since forever.

The
ascendancy of JP Merida as head coach

Merida, who played on Ateneo’s
three-peat team from 2004-06, has taken a team that was demoralized not just
from losing but also its struggles with their coaching staff, and turned them
around. His leadership and coaching style gave them a confidence.

Their
defense

They’ve got a solid back four with
John Christopher Aw Young, Gico Noel, Wilson Marcelino, and Migs Tuazon. They do not make too many mistakes and cover opponents well. The longer they play together they better they get. Plus, they’ve
got two solid goalkeepers in Yu Murayama and Nick O’Donnell. Murayama, maybe
because he is a super senior (he stopped school for a couple of years before
coming back), is in great form. Not only is he superbly conditioned but
mentally, he’s there as well. O’Donnell, got some terrific experience a couple
of years ago while playing behind Ref Cuaresma and Gabby Vorbeck with Loyola.
Both have alternated at goal with every game but with the tournament in its
homestretch, maybe Murayama should get more playing time.

And oh, they’ve only conceded on goal
in nine matches. Second-running FEU has scored 32 goals but has surrendered
six.

Good
recruits and the return of some terrific players

There’s Nick O’Donnell, Carlo Liay,
and Eric Figueroa. For the longest time, we couldn’t get any. When we did, we
lost them to academics. But they were few as the program wasn’t doing so well
since 2008.

Others have finally found their place.
Enzo Bonoan and Jacobo Lorenzo, great high school players had underachieved in
the seniors ranks. Both have come back this season with greater resolve and
more confidence. And it shows.

And there's a lot of homegrown pride in this squad from Murayama to Lorenzo to Mabanag all the way to Figueroa.

The
play of Mikko Mabanag

Last Sunday, UE’s JP Villamor knocked
Mabanag out of bounds. A year ago, he would have charged at the Red Warrior and
thrown some punches if not invectives. Mabanag (who I have been also counseling
with advice since his senior year in high school), has finally listened and
allowed his game to do the talking. Since he was named Best Midfielder in last
year’s Clear Dream Match, he has played incredibly well darting here and there
for passes and goals. Former national coach Zoran Dordevic scouted Mabanag for
several games and couldn’t wait to put him in uniform. His play has been every
bit as important for Ateneo.

Will Ateneo win this year’s UAAP Men’s
Football title? It still is a wide-open race if you ask me. If they make the
finals, that will increase their confidence.

Check out my other blogs!

Twitter Updates

Who am I?

What I do for a living?

I also write regularly for Business Mirror; philstar.com; abs-cbnnews.com, and rappler.com.

I am also currently the media officer for the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, the National Basketball Training Center, and the Flying V Davao Thunders.

I do PR consultancy for a variety of clients that I do not want to divulge.

I used to teach journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University hand have given lectures about journalism, new media, marketing, and public relations at the Ateneo, UP Diliman, UST, San Beda, Immaculate Conception Academy, Miriam College, Mindanao State University, FIFA seminars, and a few other schools and organizations.

I used to write for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines Free Press, and Maxim Philippines. I have also contributed to FHM, Men's Health, Tower Sports NBA, Rebound, and a few other sports, interior design, and lifestyle magazines as well. Most recently, I was the editor-in-chief of PBA Life, the Official Lifestyle Magazine of the Philippine Basketball Association as well as Season 40 edition of Hardcourt, the season-in-review.

My blog, Bleachers' Brew, serves as a hub for many of my writings (but not all as there are some that are exclusive).

When I have free time, I listen to my collection of over 5,000 CDs, read, watch DVDs, or walk my dog around the subdivision.

Liverpool FC

My all-time favorite football team. I bleed Liverpool Red.

Books in my collection: Four Four Two with an excellent feature on Jurgen Klopp!